Written by: Trenton Smiley, Hoopla Director of Customer Messaging
During my years as a library marketing professional, I viewed fall as an opportunity to reconnect with current patrons, reach new audiences, and remind communities of the library’s value. As people settle back into their routines after summer, many are looking for ways to learn new skills, support educational goals, explore personal interests, and spend meaningful time with family. That makes fall an ideal time to highlight educational resources.
As a complement to the resources and experiences available within a library’s physical space, Hoopla offers educational content for all ages through eBooks, audiobooks, videos, comics, graphic novels, and BingePass collections. Whether supporting STEM learning, encouraging creativity, engaging reluctant readers, developing professional skills, or inspiring lifelong learning, these resources help libraries extend learning beyond their walls.
For librarians, the value of these resources is often self-evident. The assignment is helping patrons see that value for themselves. While library staff may immediately recognize how a STEM-focused BingePass supports classroom learning or how comics engage reluctant readers, patrons often need help understanding how a resource can benefit them personally.
That’s why it matters how libraries talk about resources.
Too often, library messaging focuses on features: what a resource is, how it works, or what’s included. While those details are important, they don’t always answer the question patrons are really asking: “How will this help me?”
The marketing adage “Features tell. Benefits sell.” applies here. Consider a blender advertisement.
Feature-focused: This blender has a 1,200-watt motor, six preset functions, and stainless-steel blades.
Benefit-focused: Make healthy meals in minutes while saving time in the kitchen.
The features haven’t changed. The difference is that the benefit-focused message connects the product to an outcome the customer wants.
Libraries can use the same approach. Instead of simply listing what’s included in a resource, connect it to a meaningful result.
The goal isn’t to replace features with benefits. The most effective outreach combines both, using features to explain what a resource offers and benefits to explain why it matters.
Here are two examples using educational BingePasses to illustrate the difference:
Science Squad BingePass
Feature-Focused
The Science Squad BingePass provides access to a collection of science-focused educational content for elementary-age learners through a single borrow.
Feature + Benefit-Focused
The Science Squad BingePass provides access to a collection of science-focused educational content for elementary-age learners through a single borrow. Want to help your child become more engaged in science this school year? Science Squad brings STEM concepts to life through engaging content that reinforces classroom learning, encourages curiosity, and helps young learners view science as something exciting to explore.
Hands on Crafts for Kids BingePass
Feature-Focused
The Hands on Crafts for Kids BingePass includes 52 episodes featuring painting, clay projects, stitching, and seasonal crafts for children ages 6–12, all available with a single borrow.
Feature + Benefit-Focused
The Hands on Crafts for Kids BingePass includes 52 episodes featuring painting, clay projects, stitching, and seasonal crafts for children ages 6–12, all available with a single borrow. Looking for a screentime option that offers more than entertainment? This collection helps children build creativity, practice problem-solving, and experience the satisfaction of creating something with their own hands.
Helping Patrons See the Possibilities
When promoting educational resources this fall, focus on the outcome rather than just the collection. The real story isn’t BingePass, an eBook, or a digital comic series. It’s a child who becomes more engaged in science, a family that discovers creative activities together, an adult who gains a new skill, or a reluctant reader who develops a love of reading.
Those are stories that resonate with patrons.
As you plan your fall outreach efforts, challenge yourself to pair every feature with a benefit. Whether you’re promoting digital content through Hoopla or resources within your library, explain what a resource is and help patrons imagine what it can help them achieve.
When libraries connect resources to outcomes, educational content becomes more than a collection. It becomes a catalyst for learning, discovery, and community impact.
